Yeah, that one didn't work that well for me either. Great review.

I couldn't finish this. It was trying so hard to be cool and unique that it was just bizarre. Disjointed and poorly written. I know some really like it because it all girl-power but I was not impressed.

This looks like one I'll be skipping. And re: the "gentle, level-headed" way of women: the way I see it, it's not so much that it's our nature, but rather a survival tactic. If we sit meekly during an explosive situation it's either because (a) we really can't afford for it to escalate or (b) if we do react, we're suddenly the ones who are too emotional. I saw a photo this week of Gayle King sitting serenely as R. Kelly towers over her in a rage during an interview; many commenters expressed their admiration at her level-headedness as a reporter, but many others (usually women) pointed out that it wasn't an uncommon reaction from their experience.

I tried to listen to this on audio and I just couldn't get into it.

Ugh. I hate that "gentle, level-headed" cliché. It couldn't be further from the truth, even in women who sometimes find it useful (or see no alternative) to behave that way. I don't -- and I couldn't, anyway, however hard I'd try. -- If I disagree with someone but for whatever reason don't feel like fighting about whatever it is I disagree on, and if walking away is an option to avoid that fight, I just shut up and walk away. If / when that is not an option, I'll speak up and *nobody* will be left in any doubt as to my opinion (on the substance matter of the conversation as well as, on occasion, at the very least implicitly, some of the other people in the room / participating in the conversation). (QED here, I suppose. :D) I'm a litigator -- my job description doesn't call for "gentle" (at least not most of the time). Part of why I am good at my job, even if I say so myself, and why I really like doing what I do for a living, is because it lets me be who I really am (or a good part of it, anyway). But guess what? Arguing and speaking your mind, sometimes not very gently at all, has absolutely *nothing* to do with being level-headed (or not). In fact, being level-headed is as important a part of my job description as not being gentle -- and that, incidentally, is true for both men and women in my line of work. I don't even want to go into the "matriarchal societies have proven to be less prone to start a war" thing (chiefly because I'm too woozy on whether that is still current anthropological thought to begin with) ... but I will note that in humanity's several thousand years' worth of existence, male-dominated societies have come pretty close to blowing us all to kingdom come on several occasions, most recently in WWII and its Cold War aftermath -- and more often than not, employing some chillingly cold and calculated thinking. (Clausewitz, anyone? Or Reinhard Heydrich?)

Anyway -- great review. And though I haven't read this book, I do have a feeling it would set me on edge in all the wrong ways as well! :)